The Greatest Gift of All
by TheIrishShipperholic
Summary: AU. Lulu and Dante are NOT friends in this, in fact, they basically hate each other. But their mothers, Laura & Olivia, are friends, so they pretend to be so they don't upset their mothers. What happens when Lulu is raped and Dante steps up to be the baby's father? Will it lead to something more than a marriage of convenience?
1. Prologue

**Prologue: Just Between Friends**

1986

Soon to be teenage single mom Olivia Falconeri sat at a table in Romero's Pizzeria tapping her foot impatiently as she waited for her new friend Laura Spencer, who was also expecting. Olivia looked to the doorway and spotted the blue eyes & honey-blonde hair of Laura, who had 2 little boys named Nikolas (Cassadine) & Lucky. She waved her hand as hard as she could until Laura spotted her doing so. Laura walked toward Olivia and pulled out a chair for herself before sitting down. Olivia said, "Did you bring it?"

'It' was a marriage contract Laura had her lawyer draw up. When Olivia, affectionately nicknamed Liv, had called Laura two months ago, asking her to do this, Laura didn't hesitate. She had the contract drawn up immediately. But Olivia and Laura's friendship had started long before the contract:

_As Olivia Falconeri sat in the waiting room at the doctor's office, she suddenly began to feel very stupid for sleeping with ladies' man Sonny Corinthos. Meanwhile, happily married mother of two (half-brothers) Laura Spencer parked her car outside. A smile came to her face as she put her hands on her still-flat stomach, knowing that when she walked into the doctor's office, she would find out if she was going to give her husband Luke a little girl._

_She got out of her car and headed inside, adding an extra bounce to her step. Laura looked around the waiting room until she saw an empty chair, next to a teenage girl who looked like she wanted to bolt out of the doctor's office. Laura walked over, sat down and stuck out her hand for the girl to shake then said, "I'm Laura. What's your name, honey?"_

_Olivia took the lady who called herself Laura's hand, shook it and answered, "I'm Olivia but some people call me Liv."_

As Laura and Olivia sat in Romero's, they remembered that day before Olivia broke up their thoughts by saying, "Laura, let's sign the contract now, before I change my mind." Laura pulled the contract out of her purse, along with a pen. She signed the document first then handed the pen to Liv and watched her young friend sign the contract. When Olivia was done signing, she handed the pen back to Laura and slid the contract toward her. Standing up, the two mothers to be hugged as much as they could with their pregnant bellies between them, before Laura left Romero's.

Once she was outside, Laura put her hands on her belly and whispered, "This is your destiny, baby girl...You'll understand one day..."

Inside Romero's, Olivia also put her hands on her 9 month pregnant belly and whispered, "Your destiny awaits, my baby boy...one day, you'll know..."


	2. Chapter One

**A/N: Jory (the muse) would like to offer her most sincere apology for not updating this sooner! PLEASE enjoy this update!**

**Chapter 1: Honey and Fire**

**2009**

**_Song: If You Could Only See  
Artist: Tonic_**

_**If you could only see the way she loves me**_  
_**Then maybe you would understand**_  
_**Why I feel this way about our love**_  
_**And what I must do**_  
_**If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says**_  
_**When she says she loves me**_

_**Well you got your reasons**_  
_**And you got your lies**_  
_**And you got your manipulations**_  
_**They cut me down to size**_

_**Sayin' you love but you don't**_  
_**You give your love but you won't**_

_**If you could only see the way she loves me**_  
_**Then maybe you would understand**_  
_**Why I feel this way about our love**_  
_**And what I must do**_  
_**If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says**_  
_**When she says she loves me**_

_**Seems the road less traveled**_  
_**Shows happiness unraveled**_  
_**And you got to talk a little dirt**_  
_**To keep what you love**_  
_**That's what you gotta do**_

_**Sayin' you love but you don't**_  
_**You give your love but you won't**_  
_**You're stretching out your arms to something that's just not there**_  
_**Sayin' you love where you stand**_  
_**Give your heart when you can**_

_**If you could only see the way she loves me**_  
_**Then maybe you would understand**_  
_**Why I feel this way about our love**_  
_**And what I must do**_  
_**If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says**_  
_**When she says she loves me**_

_**Sayin' you love but you don't**_  
_**You give your love but you won't**_  
_**Sayin' you love where you stand**_  
_**Give your heart when you can**_

_**If you could only see the way she loves me**_  
_**Then maybe you would understand**_  
_**Why I feel this way about our love**_  
_**And what I must do**_  
_**If you could only see how blue her eyes can be when she says**_  
_**When she says she loves me**_

23 year old Lesley Lu "Lulu" Spencer breezed into her workplace, Kelly's Diner, as if someone hadn't called her at four o'clock in the morning, asking her if her refigerator was running and hanging up. It was a ritual that Dante Falconeri had been doing since they were 16 and he knows how much it irritates Lulu but refuses to let up. After Dante woke her up, Lulu, who lived with her best friend/sister in law Georgie Jones Cassadine part-time (Georgie also lived with Nikolas at Wyndemere), went for an early morning run.

Her childhood torture, who lived with his college roommate, Cooper Barrett, also a cop in training, went to the gym to work out before heading in for the early shift at Kelly's. When Lulu looked around, she finally spotted Dante sitting at a table with "Noble Nurse" Nadine Crowell. Nadine had her hand over Dante's as she laughed at what he was saying. Georgie, Lulu's other best friend Serena Baldwin and their husbands (Lulu's older brothers) Nikolas & Lucky walked into Kelly's and saw the look on Lulu's face, the one that said she wanted to throw something across the room.

They (Georgie & Serena) grabbed Lulu and took her into the storage room. Once they were inside, Lulu said to her friends, "Take me out back, please. I need to scream to make myself feel better but not scare the customers..."

Her friends looked at each other with concern on their faces but did as Lulu had asked.  
After she was done screaming, the girls headed back inside, where they found Nadine gone and Dante back behind the counter, making a fresh pot of coffee. He watched her walk over to where the aprons hung then said smugly, "Feel better, Lesley Lu?"

Before Lulu could hit him, Georgie grabbed her wrist and stopped her. She said in her "motherly" tone, "Lesley Lu Spencer, don't do anything you'll regret. You're a grown woman, a lover, not a fighter.

Lulu said, "Awww, come on Geo! I can take him!"

Georgie replied, "Oh no, you are not. Lesley Lu, Mike will fire both of you so how will you pay for your rent then? The same goes for your rent, Dante Falconeri."

Just then, Mike Corbin, who co-owned Kelly's Diner with fiance Diane Miller, walked into the favorite restaurant of every Port Charles resident, holding the hand of his fiance. And behind him was Bobbie Spencer Jones, holding a basket of goodies for later. He saw Lulu wearing a frown aimed at his grandson, who had a smirk aimed toward Lulu.

Lulu looked over and saw her father's sister, who said, "Lesley Lu Spencer, are you misbehavin' again?" Lulu hung her head, which gave Bobbie her answer. Bobbie, who practically raised her adoring niece while Lulu's father & mother went gallavanting around the world, said, "Lesley Lu, apologize to Dante, _right now_."

Lulu looked at Dante and said, "I'm sorry, _Dante_..."

She ground his name out just to make him mad but Bobbie intercepted yet again, "Dante, apologize to my niece please."

Dante looked at Lulu, the girl who had changed his world with just being herself, said, "I'm sorry, Lulu..."

Bobbie said, "Now hug each other please." When Lulu was about to protest, her aunt stopped her by saying, "No, Lesley Lu. You do it now or I _will_call your parents, which you know I don't want to do, since they seem to be having a nice time in Australia."

Lulu walked over and hugged her frenemy/coworker long enough to whisper in his ear, "I'll see you in my dreams, Falcon..."

He whispered back, "Not if I see you first, Sparrow..." Dante slapped her butt and Lulu yelped loudly enough to scare some of the customers in the restaurant.

**Hours Later**

At exactly 5:45 that evening, Lulu clocked out and beat a hasty retreat before Dante could stop her. She was meeting Georgie, Serena, Brook Lynn Ashton and Sage Alcazar for a girls' night at Jake's, while Dante would be spending the evening alone so Cooper could spend time with his "cougar" girlfriend Carly Jacks.

**Harborview Towers**

Georgie had just climbed into the elevator when she heard a familiar _male_voice call out, "Hold the elevator, please!" It belonged to Logan Hayes, a cop in training, and he wanted Georgie to leave Port Charles with him but she repeatedly told him she would NEVER love someone like him if they were the last two people on earth. Though she didn't want to, Georgie held the elevator anyway, just because it was the Christian thing to do. They rode in silence until he asked the same question as before, "So, Ms. Jones, are you EVER going to run away with me?"

Georgie rarely got angry but this was a moment when she was really fed up. Turning to Logan, she let loose. "_Mr. Hayes_, you may not realize it yet, but when you flirt with women-especially ones like myself-you should NEVER ask if they're going to be leaving their significant others. Am I making myself clear?" Afraid to speak after her outburst, Logan simply nodded his head yes. Upon hearing the elevator _ding_, Georgie waited for the doors to open then turned back to say, "If you're not doing anything later, my friends and I are heading to Jake's, if you're interested..."

Logan waited until she was gone then pulled out his cellphone and began dialing a familiar number. When the other person answered, Logan simply said, "Jake's, single women, PARTY!" Not waiting to hear his partner in training's response, Logan hung up. Meanwhile, Georgie reached the door of Lulu's and hers penthouse and knocked three times.

It was hers & Lulu's secret code and she soon heard Lulu's muffled voice call out, "Come in, Geo!" Georgie twisted the doorknob, and when it turned under her hand, she stepped inside, shutting the door behind her.

As soon as she sat down on the couch, however, Georgie heard Lulu come clomping down the stairs. Her BFF was wearing a faded _Twilight: New Moon _novelty T-shirt and workout pants, with running shoes to match. Shaking her head, Georgie said, "Shame shame, Lulu. Come on, go back upstairs and pick out a different outfit."

Lulu began to protest, "But, Georgie..."

Georgie said in her "motherly" tone, "No buts, Lesley Lu. March your booty back _up _those stairs and pick out something else to wear." Grumbling the entire way, Lulu ran back upstairs and finally spotted the perfect outfit: a black one-shoulder dress.

Slipping it over her head after unzipping it, Lulu smoothed out the wrinkles then inspected herself in the mirror hanging behind her door. Digging out the silver heels she wore to a wedding last fall, Lulu sat down on her bed and slipped into them.

**Jake's**

Arm in arm, Lulu & Georgie walked into their favorite hangout and immediately spotted their friend Sage waving at them. Smiling in unison, the BFFs nodded at each other then headed in the direction of where their other "gal pals" sat. They were soon spotted by Logan, who brought Matt Hunter as his wingman.


	3. Chapter Two

**Chapter 2: My Fair Lulu**

**Jake's – One Hour Later**

As Lulu watched with Brook Lynn, Sage and Serena, they saw the last member of their five person group go off into the night with a man who would hopefully treat her right. Lulu had seen the way Georgie and Logan looked at each other, and she wondered if she could have that too. "You will, Lulu Spencer, don't you worry about a thing," Brook Lynn spoke to the blonde waitress' left, her accent peeking through.

She groaned, realizing she'd spoken her thoughts aloud again, brushing it aside as the heat getting to her head. "I'm going to call it a night, ladies," she told her remaining friends as she began gathering her stuff from the extended table they had sat at together. Lulu had to admit that she'd had fun with her friends and the three hunky cops they'd invited to Jake's tonight.

"You are a party pooper, Lesley Lu Spencer," blonde-haired Serena said with a pout. She was the sometimes relatively tame "wild child" of their group but she was also the one who kept them going – even when they all didn't get a long. It was Sage who liked the thrill of an adrenaline run, while Georgie acted like the "mother hen" for them. Brook Lynn had her composition career just taking off and Lulu would be stuck here in the town where she'd been born & raised, waiting tables as she tired her way through night school.

While her parents were away doing their thing, Lulu was glad to have her brothers Lucky, Ethan and Nikolas and two of their wives to help her so she didn't fail/flunk out of college. Bobbie and Lucas were great help to her as well, keeping Lulu sheltered and well-fed. "You know, Rena, as well as I do that Aunt Bobbie would scold me if I missed my curfew," Lulu responded, reaching out to hug the other blonde fiercely. "Besides, I've got exams all day tomorrow, and I'm helping plan a baby shower for your dad & Olivia."

Serena rolled her eyes good-naturedly when she pulled herself out of Lulu's embrace. "I know, I know," she said with a slight smile. The other four girls knew that Serena had a bit of a class clown in her but the blonde often refused to let it out. "Dad and Olivia have reminded me about the showers too many times to count. They are counting on me to baby-sit Jordan so Olivia can be fussed over." In an unexpected twist of fate, Olivia had found out she was pregnant with 2 year old Jordan after nearly 9 years of believing she wouldn't and now she was expecting baby #2. The second blonde only grinned when one of the two hunky cops remaining behind appeared behind her. "You all ready to go, Barrett?"

The tall, lean muscled cop nodded quietly. "Can you three make sure he gets home _without_ his new buddy?" he asked them, as they all looked over at Cruz. He'd clearly had too much to drink and was hitting on one of the female doctors/nurses from the hospital, but she wasn't having any of it.

"I'll take care of him," Sage spoke up. She'd been quiet since they'd congregated and Lulu wondered why. She had noticed Sage's gaze as it roamed to lock with that of Dr. Matt Hunter. Lulu also wondered if there was something the brunette hadn't told them about her past but brushed that off as well when she'd seen the disappointment & anger flash in the Mob princess' eyes as Matt left with the Indian nurse, Leyla Mir.

Cooper nodded in acknowledgment. "Thank you, Sage," he said, giving her a kind smile. Lulu, Serena, Cooper and Brook Lynn watched as Sage approached Cruz and his female companion, speaking some words to the other female, who nodded and helped Sage put the drunken cop's arm around the petite but tough brunette's shoulders before doing the same with his other arm. Cooper turned back to Serena, Brook Lynn and Lulu, his own arm going around Serena's shoulders. "Goodnight, ladies, Rena is in good hands," he told them. "It was nice meeting you tonight for the first time."

"Likewise," Brook Lynn and Lulu said at the same time then went silent as they watched a third member of their group take off with a guy. Lulu saw Brook Lynn's gaze wander over to where her ex, Johnny Zacchara, sat tuning up the piano but sensed her gazing at him and playfully slapped Brook Lynn's butt.

"Go for it, Bensonhurst Soprano," Lulu said with a laugh. She had forgiven Johnny for his brief liaison with her former roommate/Georgie's older sister, Maxie, but she still held a grudge towards Maxie. Each of her friends kept asking if she would forgive the fashion editor for also sleeping with Logan Hayes, who Lulu knew Georgie had been crushing on since ended her marriage to Lulu's former stepbrother, Dillon Quartermaine, but Lulu wouldn't do any such thing, no matter how much pressure her friends tried to put on her. Brook Lynn gave Lulu a smirk before picking up the cordless microphone before walking up to the stage. Lulu turned and gestured to Coleman, who nodded and dimmed the lights before focusing the spotlight on Brook Lynn.

Brook Lynn cleared her throat then waited for "Won't Let You Fall" by Fergie to come onto the karaoke machine before she began to sing:

**_I'll never let you go  
So, never let me go  
I will be your journey  
And you will be my road_**

Johnny got up from his spot at the piano, picked up the extra microphone and joined Brook Lynn on stage, his voice blending harmonically with hers as they began to sing the rest of the song together:

**_Down the stormy path  
Love will never come to pass  
It will be an anchor  
Although the winds may blow_**

_**And through the depths of high and low**_  
_**Wherever you will go, I'll follow**_  
_**To the end, back again**_  
_**You know**_

_**Chorus**_  
_**Won't let you fall**_  
_**Fall out of love**_  
_**'Cause together we'll be holding on**_  
_**'Cause all we have is us**_  
_**Won't let you go**_  
_**Go away again**_  
_**Because life don't man nothing at all**_  
_**If I don't have your love**_

The song seemed to take on a life of its own from there as the two composition lovers had eyes for only each other. Lulu was glad each of her friends had someone but she refused to let the emptiness overtake her. Brook Lynn's angelic soprano vocal chords blended extremely well with Johnny's lower baritone vocal chords as the song continued on:

**_I will dry your tears  
Take away your fears  
Let me be your shelter  
Your heart is safe in here  
So beautiful and pure  
There's nothing I would not endure  
Oh, love has got me blinded  
I see it all so clear_**

_**And through the depths of high and low**_  
_**Wherever you will go, I'll follow**_  
_**To the end, back again**_  
_**You know**_

_**And through the depths of high and low**_  
_**Wherever you will go, I'll follow**_  
_**To the end, back again**_  
_**You know**_

_**Chorus**_  
_**Won't let you fall**_  
_**Fall out of love**_  
_**'Cause together we'll be holding on**_  
_**'Cause all we have is us**_  
_**Won't let you go**_  
_**Go away again**_  
_**Because life don't mean nothing at all**_  
_**If I don't have your love**_

_**Chorus**_  
_**Won't let you fall**_  
_**Fall out of love**_  
_**'Cause together we'll be holding on**_  
_**'Cause all we have is us**_  
_**Won't let you go**_  
_**Go away again**_  
_**Because life don't mean nothing at all**_  
_**If I don't have your love**_

_**I'm down for you for whatever**_  
_**Anything you're going through**_  
_**What's mine is yours**_  
_**Every little thing**_  
_**I got you**_  
_**Even when winds will change**_  
_**Come smashing down and crashing on you**_

_**Chorus**_  
_**Won't let you fall**_  
_**Fall out of love**_  
_**'Cause together we'll be holding on**_  
_**'Cause all we have is us**_  
_**Won't let you go**_  
_**Go away again**_  
_**Because life don't mean nothing at all**_  
_**If I don't have your love**_

Lulu took her leave as the song faded into the final notes but lingered for a few moments as she watched Johnny dip his head to place a soft kiss onto Brook Lynn's cheek before disappearing from the entrance to the bar. Her steps were quick and light as she finally came out and began heading toward her Ford Focus so she could rive home to Aunt Bobbie's Brownstone. Arriving at her destination, Lulu parked the car and headed inside after locking her trusted birthday gift, and once locked inside the house, Lulu pulled out her cell phone and sent the same text message to all four of her best friends: _Breakfast 8:00 sharp…Be there or be square!_

She pressed SEND then turned her phone off for the night before heading upstairs to her bedroom suite. One by one, the items Georgie had insisted she wear for a night out with the girls fell onto the floor. Lulu made a mental note to pick them up when she was done taking her shower but before she began studying. Grabbing her iPod Nano, Lulu put it on the small table next to the porcelain tub in her adjoining bathroom then turned on the water, testing the temperature until it was the one she wanted. Smiling in satisfaction, Lulu moaned as she slipped into the steamy-hot water. She put the earphones in her ears then closed her eyes as "Name" by Goo Goo Dolls began playing:

**_And even though the moment passed me by  
I still can't turn away  
'Cause all the dreams you never thought you'd lose  
Get tossed along the way  
And letters that you never meant to send  
Get lost or thrown away_**

_**And now we're grown up orphans**_  
_**That never knew their names**_  
_**We don't belong to no one**_  
_**That's a shame**_

_**But if you could hide beside me**_  
_**Maybe for a while**_  
_**And I won't tell no one your name**_  
_**And I won't tell 'em your name**_

At the beginning of the second verse to the song, Lulu lifted one leg covered in soap suds then picked up the small can of shaving cream, tugged on the lid before smiling as it landed on the marble floor with a soft _clink_. Lathering a handful into her palm, Lulu spread it onto the leg she'd hiked up, then picked up her purple razor and began to shave the growing hair off, while humming the rest of the song to herself:

**_And scars are souvenirs you never lose  
The past is never far  
Did you lose yourself somewhere out there?  
Did you get to be a star?  
And don't it make you sad to know that life  
Is more than who we are?_**

_**We grew up way too fast**_  
_**And now there's nothing to believe**_  
_**Reruns all become our history**_  
_**A tired song keeps playing on a tired radio**_  
_**And I won't tell no one your name**_  
_**And I won't tell 'em your name**_  
_**I won't tell 'em your name**_  
_**Mmm, mmm, mmm**_

_**I won't tell 'em your name**_  
_**Ohhhh!**_

_**I think about you all the time**_  
_**But I don't need the same**_  
_**It's lonely where you are come back down**_  
_**And I won't tell 'em your name**_

**xoxoxo**

After falling asleep while studying, Lulu nearly slept through her alarm clock but had enough time to climb in the shower, dress and stuff her books into her backpack before running out the door in time to head to Kelly's, where she found her four best friends scattered around a table. "Don't you dare say anything," she said, glaring at Brook Lynn as the composition lover began to snicker at Lulu's look: her wet blonde hair that was beginning to curl, the baggy hooded sweatshirt over the printed T-shirt, workout pants and converse sneakers on her feet. "I was in a hurry to get out the door." As she spoke, Lulu hurriedly combed the tangles out of her hair before Brook Lynn stopped her when she only winced at the pain.

"Here, let me help," Georgie said, standing up to pull a brush out of a hidden compartment in Lulu's bag then began to untangle the wet blonde curls until they shined like the cornflower blonde color it was supposed to be. "Were you up late again studying, Lulu?" she asked as she assisted her friend into getting her hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"Yes, Mother dearest, I was then I managed to sleep through my alarm clock and didn't have time to dry my hair before coming here," Lulu responded, giving her friend a teasing smile. Her smile faded when Lulu saw the last person she wanted to see before she had her morning coffee: Dante. "Actually, I should take my breakfast to go, my first exam is in half an hour."

**xoxoxo**

Lulu sprinted into the last available seat just before the doors to the classroom that housed her business class shut behind her. "Nice of you to join us, Miss Spencer," her professor said without looking up from passing out the exams. This was one of Lulu's tougher classes but she was determined not to fail.


End file.
